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Barking Mad Roe

Back home from work yesterday so I had a look out this morning. -1°C driving there and not much showing on the stalking ground to start with, even the squirrels and rabbits were hunkered down. Once the sun broke through it took half an hour for things to start moving, but no sign of deer. Eventually a deer started barking a couple of hundred meters away but I could make nothing of it, it was in a thick plantation and did not seem keen to show itself. I turned around and stalked further along the wood, eventually another deer started barking a couple of hundred metres infront of me and nicely upwind, only three or four barks then silence. I stalked in along a ride and came to a recently felled area with thick plantation on two sides. I guessed this was where the animal I had heard 15 minutes previously had been but there was no sign of it in the open.

Instead of settling down for a wait I thought I would try a differect tactic, and I made a single low bark. I was just thinking to myself that it did not sound very convincing when a buck trotted out onto my ride a hundred metres away and was giving me 'the look', he was not happy at the thought of an intruder on his patch. He turned around to go back back into cover and a second bark from me stopped him niclely broadside.

At the shot he jumped and ran, I gave it five minutes then had a look with Raff, he went belting off on the wrong line and I was thinking to myself I had better wait for him to calm down then resend him (he can be a bit mad when he has not been out for a while!) when I saw he had found the animal, he had been running a hot scent all along. 50 m away from the shot site but at a different angle from what I thought he had run. No photos unfortunately as the camera had a flat battery, but he was a nice middle aged animal with a poor six point head, had decent length but very weak top tines.

Not much barking so far this season here M.M. the weathers knocked it sideways somewhat.
Same with the fraying, not alot yet.
Been shooting a few but its hard work when theres so much rape.
Shot a vixen this morning and saw 4 deer but no shots.
I changed to the 156RN sp's yesterday to help get through the stalks and bramble canes.

you mention the rape john ,we had 6/7 bucks on a small plot with all rape, while short no probs stuck around the hedgerows now its up and yellow no sign of them at all ,not many roe around here so not much experience with them ,assume they have moved on to a golf course and wheat fields next door .saw 2 does this am but in the wheat not rape ,whats your take on rape and roe ?

They love it, they eat it in the colder months and hide in it till harvest then rut on the stubbles.
we have big 40-100 acre fields in this area and 1 in 5 is rape.
It flowered a month early this year and is still sat in flower as its to cold for the bees.
Been a difficult time this year all the wet then all the young bucks are in the rape, so are the cubs now.